Swansea Parking Lot Farm

Our parking lot farm project has been closed in 2011. We met great people, learned a lot and had a great time. It was a wonderful run! Thank you to David Karas for hosting us for two seasons!

Hey Joni...Look at that Parking Lot Now!

A few years ago Joni Mitchell sang a song about paving paradise to put in a parking lot. She called the song, Big Yellow Taxi. Well, Joni...we took back that parking lot and turned it into paradise again!

This is the South Swansea neighborhood, near what used to be an empty parking lot. This parking lot has brought them closer to their neighbors, closer to nature, and has provided them with delicious food. That's because this parking lot is a working farm. Feed Denver installed the farm and worked with four Swansea neighborhood farm stewards to keep it weeded, watered and producing healthy produce that were sold at their weekly markets. Trineka Freeman has been a steward on the parking lot farm since July and has thoroughly enjoyed learning to be a farmer in the city for several reasons. "I like knowing that the seeds I plant are going to be something I can eat. Our neighbors are so happy and even people just passing by the parking lot farm are excited and touched by this. Everybody should be a part of this. I just try to tell them and show them that this is something different. I love growing it all." Paula is also quick to point out the benefits the farm has had for their underserved community. "Now the community can enjoy fresh vegetables and nice conversation anytime during the week at our farm. This has so changed the community," said Paula. "No one ever cared what went on here but now we do. And now that the Parking Lot Farm is here, I don’t want the work to end with the season. I’m talking to my other farm stewards and we are coming up with new ideas and plans to keep the farm going, and the community is behind us all the way." Paula, Trineka, their fellow stewards Carolina and Lisa, and the Parking Lot Farm were supported by the Denver Foundation’s Strengthening Neighborhoods Program and the City of Denver’s Office of Economic Development.